


Such a Cliché

by huffellepuff



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: (mention of Pedrazar), F/M, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-31
Updated: 2014-08-31
Packaged: 2018-02-15 12:55:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2229783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huffellepuff/pseuds/huffellepuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bea and Ben go to a carnival.  Future fic, post-series, prompt fill. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Such a Cliché

**Author's Note:**

> Another writing exercise, unedited fic. I was given a carnival/Harvest Festival prompt from ozzieoswin on Tumblr, and this is what happened. Sadly couldn't fit any Parks and Rec refereces in. 
> 
> Also I have NO idea what a carnival looks like in New Zealand, so I thought the county fairs where I live.

“Come on, Bea, it’ll be fun!” Ben pleaded while dramatically flopping back on the bed.

“I know it’ll be fun, Ben, it’s a carnival.  They’re supposed to be.  But I promised the aunties I’d get this room cleaned up, I have to finish first.”

“They won’t be back until tomorrow, and it’s almost done.  If we don’t go now it’ll be too late. Pleeeeaaaaase. Please please please please please.” He sat up and punctuated every please with a poke to her shoulder.

“Oh shut up.” Bea said, unable to keep a fond smile off of her face.

“I don’t shut up, I grow up, and when I look at you, I throw up.” Ben said cheerfully.

“Wow, you really know how to woo a lady. Be still, my heart.”  She rolled her eyes and returned to cleaning.

“Come onnnnn, just imagine it!  Walking around hand-in-hand, carnival lights and music, playing games, riding to the top of the ferris wheel…”

“Ben. Hand-in-hand? Really?”

“Okay, maybe not that part.  But the rest would be great, you know it.  I’ll help you finish cleaning afterwards...”  

“Fine. But if this doesn’t get done, I _will_ hurt you.”

“I have no doubts, fair Beatrice. Now, allons-y!” Ben grinned and headed out the door, Bea following along with an eye roll and a matching grin.

 

\------

 

By the time they got there, all of Bea’s fight over coming to the carnival was gone.  She wasn’t about to tell Ben he was right about this being a good idea, but she was quite excited to be out of her room and ready for some fun.  

“So what shall we do first?  Sample the fine, deep fried cuisine surrounding us?  Ride the roller coaster?”  Ben asked.

Bea looked around briefly and her face lit up. “Haunted house. Come on.”

“Oh, are you sure we should start there?  I mean, there’s also the ferris wheel just over there…”  He suggested, dragging his feet as he followed Bea.

“What, are you scared?” Bea asked with a burst of laughter.

“No, of course not!  Let’s go!”  Ben put on a determined face and marched toward the haunted house.

Inside, Ben _might_ have walked a little bit closer to Bea than was strictly necessary, but she wasn’t about to complain.  And if he grabbed her hand and started holding it towards the end, Bea didn’t say anything.  Sweaty though it was, she was okay with providing a little bit of comfort.  It was dark in the haunted house, anyway, no one could see.

 

As soon as they walked out, Ben let go of her hand and Bea gave him a knowing smirk.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”  She said, lightly bumping her shoulder into his.

“Could’ve been worse, I suppose.”  He replied with a smile and bumped her right back.

As they walked around the carnival, the shoulder bumping slowly turned into shoving, until Ben ended up falling over, almost knocking into one of the vendor’s stalls.

“No need to be a pushover, Ben.” Bea said, laughing at her own joke.

“Ha, ha, now give me a hand, will you?”  Ben said.

Bea held out her hand without thinking about it, and before she realized it, she was pulled down next to Ben.  

“Now that I’ve lowered you to my level…” Ben said, and before Bea could say anything in response, his lips were on hers.  

A moment later, they were reminded of the fact that perhaps sitting on the ground at a crowded carnival was not the best idea when someone gently kicked at them and coughed.

“Ow, Pedro, you ass, that hurt!”  Bea stood up and smacked his shoulder.

“You two are disgusting, truly.” Pedro said with a smile, clearly unfazed by Bea’s reaction. “Almost making me regret setting you two up.”

“You didn’t set us up, you manipulated us.” Bea said, still angry at the nerve of her friends, though they were admittedly right.

Pedro shrugged as Balthazar appeared, handing a drink to Pedro and keeping one for himself.

“Ready to go the show?”  Balthazar said, slipping his now empty hand into Pedro’s. “The band’s on in ten minutes.”

Pedro smiled, waved goodbye to Bea and Ben with his drink, and headed towards the stage with Balthazar.

  
“Are they…?”  Ben began, staring after his two friends in confusion.

“Apparently.  It took them long enough.”  Bea said with a grin. “Well, it took Pedro long enough, he had to get his head out of ass first.”

“Good for them.  Anyway, for our next activity, how about we go over to the ring toss and I can win you a stuffed animal?”  Ben suggested.

“Oh gee, Ben, that would be swell! How dreamy!” Bea said in her snarkiest girly girl voice, before going back to normal. “I don’t need you to win me stuffed animals.  It’s like some remnant of the past when men went out to hunt and bring home food for their poor incapable wives, but now it’s just boys playing stupid games in order to impress girls with cheap toys.  There is no point in it, it’s not impressive, and it’s just ridiculous”

“Alright, well, I wanna play, so I guess I’ll just keep whatever I win for myself.”  He responded, knowing not to read too far into Bea’s rants against him anymore.

“Well. I never said I wouldn’t _want_ one.  I just don’t _need_  one, that’s all.”

“No, no, I would hate to push you into any sexist stereotypes.  I will work for my own, and you can work for yours if you’d like it.”

“Just win me a good one, you dick.”  Bea said as Ben walked up to the ring toss.

After ten minutes of watching Ben fight with the ring toss game, Bea wandered off to look at the neighboring stalls.  When she returned, she found Ben standing with the most horrific stuffed animal she could have imagined.

“You got me a _flamingo_?”

“Well, they are truly majestic creatures.”  

“But...I just…” Bea started, unsure of what to say. He knew full well that she would never have chosen it for herself.  

“Just kidding!  I’ll go back and switch it out, I just needed to see the look on your face.”  
  
“No, wait, Ben!  I’ll take the flamingo.  It reminds me of you, it’s fitting.”  Bea said, caught off guard by her own sentimentality.  They may be a thing now, and it was wonderful, but she couldn’t let herself become one of those girls.

“Wow, getting sappy now?”  Ben teased.

“Yes, indeed.  A tall, gangly, awkward bird to remind me of my tall, gangly, awkward boyfriend.  The bird’s a bit better looking, though.”

“Well, at least it’s not a crotchety old emu.” Ben said, jumping out of Bea’s reach before she could hit him with the flamingo.  
  
“I can’t believe Hero reminded you about that, you little shit.”  Bea laughed as she followed Ben.  She was still in a state of disbelief at the fact that just a couple of months ago, Ben using her cousins’ nickname would have sent her into a rage, but now she could smile about it.

The night went on, full of banter and silliness.  Bea had missed this over the last few years. Hanging out with Ben now felt so much like their first summer - but better, because now they both knew where they stood.  Plus, the making out, she was willing to admit that was a big improvement.

They ended the night with the ferris wheel.  

“I feel like such a cliché right now.  Ending our date on the ferris wheel, under the stars, blahblahblah.”  Bea said as they climbed into their seats.  
  
“Well, we don’t have to actually act that cliche.  From up here, we’ve got an excellent vantage point to study human nature as people interact all over the carnival. And we know how much you like making fun of human nature.”  Ben suggested.

“I do not!  I just call it like I see it, that’s all. Sounds like a plan though.”

After all of the talk, though, Bea still ended up snuggling up to Ben with his arm around her shoulders (which was _not_ in any way akin to hand holding, thank you very much) and her flamingo in her arms.  And if they kissed at the top of the ferris wheel, it’s not as if anyone could blame her.  Clichés become that way for a reason, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I quoted the "I don't shut up, I grow up" etc thing from Stand By Me to my roommate earlier and decided I HAD to work it into a fic because it really seems like something Ben would say. So.


End file.
